A Chili’s server is clueing people in on what happens to those feedback surveys at the end of the meal. Here’s why it’s so important for customers to fill them out.
Customer feedback surveys have become so common in the modern world that they feel like background noise. They come at the end of almost any online chat, on retail receipts, in packages. And that’s not counting the requests for ratings after using any rideshare services or delivery apps.
But even though customers may not always pay attention to these sorts of things, managers do.
“Just a reminder to fill out the survey @chilis!!!” Reese Newman (@reezenutss) wrote on a TikTok video shared this week. “They schedule the servers HEAVILY based off them and it’s like the hunger games out here.”
Are restaurant feedback surveys fair?
Of the nearly 745,000 people who have viewed Newman’s TikTok so far, many of them expressed dismay that a company would schedule workers based on unverifiable customer feedback.
“I hate this! I can’t believe you’re scheduled based off of a strangers opinion and ranking system.” wrote one commenter. “Think it’s lazy management honestly!! Not fair for sure.”
On the one hand, it makes sense that a business relying on servers to interact directly with customers would want to know how that’s working out. And managers can’t see everything, especially in a fast-paced environment like a restaurant.
But relying heavily on random customer feedback to decide who gets to work doesn’t seem like the best plan, several commenters argued. Some customers are more inclined to offer feedback when they’ve had a negative experience. That’s no matter how many positive ones came before it. This practice can also encourage servers to focus on the wrong thing—pushing the surveys—rather than serving patrons.
“I had a nightmare last night that my score dropped in the yellow,” one user commented under the video.
Another viewer noted, “I just got left all bad scores bc my table said the Togo box was hard to close.”
Does Chili’s really use customer surveys to make employee schedules?
A 2018 report from Buzzfeed News confirms that chain restaurants like Chili’s use post-meal customer surveys to influence their employee schedules.
The introduction of Ziosk tablets, which are utilized at Chili’s, led these surveys to weigh more heavily on employee treatment. Any Ziosk scores below a full 5 stars were considered poor by management.
“No servers who spoke with BuzzFeed News said they were outright fired over low scores — but sometimes the scores put them in an untenable limbo,” the site reported. “Earning less than before, and never quite sure whether hours would be cut or tables taken away, it was hard to know whether it was time to start looking for a new job.”
How should you fill out restaurant feedback surveys?
If you had a moderately good experience dining out, leaving a positive comment or feedback upon request makes a difference.
It doesn’t have to be an essay—just a short note can potentially help balance out the occasional negative review. Even so, negative feedback may already be given more weight than it deserves. Don’t forget to keep the focus on your experience with the server, not the overall corporation.
“I always do them and write a positive sentence using their name,” one commenter said.
“When I go to chilis I go HAM on the reviews (I write love letters to chilis and about how amazing my server is EVERY TIME),” added another.
@reezenutss One bad score and you’re not scheduled for two weeks like brotha cause people just be pressing buttons 😩😔😔🙏 #chilis #server #serverproblems ♬ original sound – finley
Chili’s is far from the only restaurant with surveys that directly impact their servers’ schedules, wages, or opportunities for advancements. Servers from restaurants like Olive Garden, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Sonic also chimed in with their own stressful experiences on the matter.
“Y’all most restaurants are like this,” wrote one commenter. “So if a server asks you to fill out a questionnaire or do a google review pls do it it takes two secs.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Chili’s via email and Newman via TikTok comment.
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